Titanic: An Unofficial Fan Novelization
by rpvee
Summary: There is no official novelization of Titanic.  Here's a fan's try at it!  Of course, all characters, stories, situations, copyrights, etc. belong to their respective owners - I'm just a fan having a little fun!
1. Introduction

The sea is a void of mystery and wonder; a work of nature, a lure for those who explore, a road for those who seek new land.

The sea is the home for millions of beings.

It is the tomb of countless others... such is the case of the majority of passengers on a legendary vessel, one which was consumed by the very water on which it tread on the night of April 14th, 1912.

1,500 people lost their lives in the ice-cold sea that night as survivors watched from lifeboats in the distance. Survivors watching their floating palace be lost. Watching their loved ones be destroyed.

Watching history unfold.

Such is the tale of _Titanic_.


	2. Lovett

_1996 _

Through the darkness of the deepest of the ocean's depths, underwater vehicles lit up the hard-rock floor of the Earth.

Inside one of these submersibles, two men's eyes scanned the empty water through the inches of glass between them and certain death. Dug deep into the sandy floor were debris, objects of old and legend. Everyday items revealed themselves from the shadows, and Brock Lovett, leader of the expedition, took a deep breath.

"Thirteen meters, you should see it." Came a static-filled voice over the vehicle's radio. Lovett pressed his face to the window. Sure enough, a dark silhouette was slowly revealing itself in the submersible's light. A mammoth structure, tall and long, though covered in various sea organisms and in great disrepair... the legendary shipwreck... the _Titanic_.

_And to think this is only half the freaking ship. _Lovett thought. A burst of radio static took him out of his daze.

"Okay," he said. "Take us up and over the bow rail."

The craft rose higher until the surface of the great ship could be seen. Slowly, cautiously, it proceeded over the area. Lovett ordered the second one to stay close.

Inside the tight space of his craft with a larger man named Lewis, Lovett stretched out his arm as far as he could, a video camera in hand. He hit "RECORD", paused a moment, and made his look of awe and wonder as visible as it could be in the limited light of the inside of the vehicle.

"Seeing her coming out of the darkness like a ghost ship still gets me every time." he solemnly narrated. "To see the sad ruin of the great ship sitting here, where she landed at 2:30 in the morning of April 15th, 1912, after her long fall from the world above-" A sudden but clear laugh interrupted him.

"You're so full of shit, boss." Lewis chuckled in a mocking tone. Lovett looked over at him, laughed a bit himself, and cut the recording, turning his head back to the window.

They were half-way down the half of the ship, old metal barely recognizable. The bright lights of the crafts illuminated the sunken ruin, shining through its broken window frames and into the abyss within. Pressing "RECORD" again, Lovett spoke, shooting Lewis a warning look beforehand.

"Dive six." The explorer stated. "Here we are again... on the deck of _Titanic_, two and a half miles down - 3,821 meters. The pressure outside is three-and-a-half tons per square inch. These windows are nine inches thick. If they go... you're a dead man sooner than you'd even realize what happened." he then closed down the camera with a dramatic roll of his eyes. "Finally, enough of that crap."

The vessel lowered closer to the deck of the wreck.

"Put her down on the roof of the officers' quarters, just like yesterday." Lovett ordered the pilot, who gave a nod in reply. "We're gonna find this thing. Today's the day."

"OK, we're right over the grand staircase." Lewis said into the radio to the other vehicle. "Ready to launch?"

"Yeah, launching now." Came a static-filled reply.

From within the bottom of the second craft came a small red box, propelled by two fans on its back to push it forward. Inside the submersible, a man wore a headset that received a feed from a camera on the red unit as he controlled it via two levers. A long tether linked it to the vessel as it lowered along the hull of the wreck. Inside his own vehicle, Lovett grabbed the radio.

"Roger that. Drop down, go into the first-class gangway door." he commanded. "I want you guys to work on the D deck reception area and dining saloon."

"Copy that." came the reply.

The red unit slowly entered a doorway of the great ship, its lights illuminating an elegant door, one of a double pair, its other half fallen.

From Lovett's craft came an identical unit.

"We're going down the stairwell with unit Snoop Dog." he announced into the radio. He then spoke to Lewis, who was wearing a headset showing him what the unit saw. "A deck... there, B deck, go in there!"

Snoop Dog cautiously entered the ship, its lights revealing clothing, glasses, and other items meaningless to Lovett. As the unit moved on, they sank back into eternal darkness. Going deeper into the ship, it approached a room that had the remnants of furniture within.

"Watch the door frame, watch it!" Lovett ordered Lewis as Snoop Dog bounced into the room's entrance.

"Chill boss!" Lewis said calmly, focused on the task at hand as he controlled the unit as best he could. An eel swam away as Snoop Dog approached a wall with an elaborate fireplace. The unit turned away, moving on. It faced another wall, and Lovett's voice took on an anxious and excited tone as an open doorway presented itself.

"That's it, that's it, that's the bedroom door!" he pointed to the screen displaying what Lewis saw. The man nodded as he guided Snoop Dog into the room, revealing a ruined bed frame.

"We're in, baby!" Lewis announced happily. "We're there!" he guided the unit over the bed.

"That's Hockley's bed." Lovett observed. "That's where the son of a bitch slept."

"Oops, someone left the water running!" Lewis joked as he passed by the bathroom. However, Lovett's eyes were on something else entirely.

"Go back to the right." he commanded in a most serious of tones. A fallen door appeared in the light as Snoop Dog turned. "Turn over that door."

"You smellin' something, boss?" Lewis asked. He gave a nod at the lack of a reply, Lovett's eyes focused only on the monitor displaying what Lewis saw. "Let's use the hands." A compartment of Snoop Dog opened, and two robotic arms with pinchers at their ends came out. With Lewis' guidance, they carefully flipped the door over. A cloud of dust floated away in the water as it settled back into the floor. A small metal box slowly became visible... a safe.

Lovett's face became one of immense excitement.

"It's pay day."

Up above the water a short time later, a large salvage ship sat still, though its crew was going back and forth. Both submersibles were safely aboard, and the safe came out from the water in a net as the sun hit it for the first time in decades. Cheers erupted from the crew as it was gently lowered onto the ship's deck. It was immediately surrounded by the anxious crowd that was Lovett's team.

Lovett himself quickly broke through the crowd. Another man, just as happy looking as the rest of the group, came forward.

"We found it, Bobby." Lovett said to him as Lewis burst open a bottle of champagne.

A chain was looped around the safe's handle and pulled, and the door ripped from its weakened hinges. Dirty water spilled out from within, along with some ruined papers. Lovett kneeled down, reached into the three sections of the safe. He pulled out ruined clumps of paper, threw them to the side, along with a black notebook. He continually stuck his hand into the safe, feeling around for anything solid as the crew became silent.

"No diamond?" One asked. Lovett stayed still for a moment, stood up, and saw a camera in his face.

"Turn that shit off." he growled as he knocked it aside and walked away.


	3. Discovery

The restoration room of Lovett's ship was a madhouse. Hired historians and scientists moved back and forth. Objects recovered on previous dives, and the papers from the safe found on the last one, sat submerged in specialized water in trays sitting on tables scattered throughout the room. Bobby, the main contact between Lovett's team and the expedition's investors, was talking into a satellite phone as loudly as he could over the busy commotion. Lovett entered, and Bobby immediately gestured to him, then to the phone. Snaking his way through the people, Lovett made his way over and took the phone.

"The investors," Bobby quickly explained. "They want an update." Lovett nodded briefly, then spoke, placing the phone to his ear.

"Dave? Oh, Barry, hi!" he said in a suddenly cool voice. "No, it wasn't in the safe, but... no, I'm not worr... yes, I was just going to say, there are plenty of other places it could be; the floor of the room, the mother's room... we'll search every inch of their suite if we have to... yes, I know your money is important, and we respect that..." Suddenly, he trailed off. He was staring at something across the room, a monitor displaying a close-up view of the cleaning of the black notebook from the safe. "We'll call you right back." Lovett dropped the phone and darted across the room, Bobby close behind. Lewis, examining an object on a table nearby, walked over.

"What's up, boss?" he asked.

"Let me see that." Lovett took an airbrush from the hand of the scientist cleaning the notebook. Without a word, she rolled away in her wheeled chair. Lovett quickly, almost carelessly, used the tool to blow away a good portion of the dirt covering the page the notebook was opened to. He had seen something - a glimpse through the filth as the scientist cleaned one spot at a time painfully slow. But now, in his hasty job, Lovett saw clear enough what was on the notebook's page: a pencil drawing of a young woman in her late teens or early twenties. She had long, elegant hair that wrapped its way over the arm of the couch she lay upon, her left arm reaching over its back while her right arm rested to her side, her forearm raised so her hand rested on her forehead. She appeared to be completely nude, with the exception of one lone necklace hanging over her chest, attached to it a heart-shaped gem... a diamond...

"Where's the photograph of the diamond?" Lovett asked to anyone around. He lifted the notebook out of the water, folding back its cover to leave the drawing visible. Lewis handed Lovett a reproduced old photo of a necklace seemingly identical to the one being worn in the drawing.

"No way..." Lewis said quietly. Lovett lifted the drawing a bit higher, revealing a scribble of handwriting at its bottom.

"I'll be goddamned." Said the explorer as he read what it said:

_April 14 1912 JD_


End file.
